Young Trainer Is on the Fast Track at Los Alamitos

The barns at Los Alamitos Race Course are brimming with quarter horse stock. New shingles are being hung out every day bearing the names of trainers from all over the country who, before track owner Edward C. Allred began a steady increase in the value of purses, wouldn’t have found California racing lucrative enough to venture west.

Then there is Heath Taylor, who says he would be training horses at Los Alamitos regardless of purse size. Since he was an 8-year-old growing up in Kentucky, Taylor has been learning the business, spending every waking moment figuring out how to do his best.

“Some people like golf, some people like tennis, some people go fishing,” said Taylor, 29. “I like horse racing and when I get a day off, I go to the track.”

Taylor will send out Allred’s Rojo Dancer in tonight’s California Challenge race. The 4-year-old gelding is the favorite, thanks in large part to the way Taylor has brought the horse along. Rojo Dancer, purchased at auction two years ago, has run only nine races and has won his last five, including the Vandy’s Flash Handicap and three allowance races.

Taylor realized that Rojo Dancer needed time to mature.

“He hadn’t been run to death,” Taylor said. “We took our time with him. He’s a really big horse and he was immature and inexperienced.”

Taylor is the prototypal new horseman, absorbing horse racing data like a stockbroker. He spent the summer of 1992 at Los Alamitos as an intern in the publicity department. A year later, he was voted equine student of the year at Louisville, where he graduated with a degree in equine studies. He spent a year as director of racing for the Texas Quarter Horse Assn. before earning his training license in 1994 and heading back to Los Alamitos.

Allred, who owns more than 500 horses, took a liking to Taylor, and when trainer Bruce Hawkinson retired in 1997, Allred placed a dozen head with Taylor, who has about 50 horses in his stable.

Last season, Taylor ranked fourth in trainer standings, earning $489,830.

And he did it the modern way, soaking up as much information as he could through the Internet, trade publications and hours and hours on the phone, networking with other horsemen.

“We have to understand that we as trainers today make a living off of other people’s discretionary income,” he said. “Back 30 years ago, you gave a horse to a trainer and what he said goes. A few people today own horses for a business, but now most people own a horse because they want them.”

Taylor says he has one goal in mind for every horse he trains.

“We try to be consistent on a day-to-day basis with all horses, young, old, cheap or stakes horses.”

Taylor said he favors a hands-on approach.

“I want to know what’s going on with a horse when I lead it up to the track for a race,” Taylor said.

NO LOSERS

Beginning this weekend, Allred is guaranteeing that every horse that finishes a race will earn a minimum of $200. Previously, a horse had to be among the top five finishers to share in purse money.

The new program is expected to cost about $1 million annually. The majority of the increase was made possible by recent state legislation championed by Allred that allows Los Alamitos to import on average an additional 16 races a week via satellite for wagering purposes.

“In this day and age with expenses of racing horses going up and up, we want to make sure that every owner in every race gets a check,” Allred said. “Before, if you finished sixth in a race, not only did you not receive any purse money, but you had to go into your own pocket for such things as jockey fees and vet bills.

“At the very least, it won’t cost them any money,” he said. “These owners are helping us put on a show and we feel they should be rewarded.”

Track officials say ultimately the new legislation could add $4 million annually to quarter horse purses at the track.

DEL MAR

The Del Mar racetrack in north San Diego County opens July 22 with thoroughbred racing through Sept. 8. Post time is 2 p.m., with the exception of Fridays. For the first four weeks, Friday post time will be at 4 p.m., then it switches to 3:30 for the remainder of the meet. No racing is scheduled Tuesday.

It costs $3 a day to get into the grandstand and $6 for the clubhouse. A reserved seat is an additional $4.

FINISH LINES

Trainer Jaime Gomez said Romeo Ryan, winner of the 1998 Golden State Futurity, won’t return to racing at Los Alamitos any time soon and will be pointed toward bigger stakes events in the fall. . . Trainer Donna McArthur has announced that two-time defending champion filly Corona Cash will make her season debut July 23 and is being pointed toward four graded stakes races this year. McArthur also announced that Royal Always, expected to be on the grounds in mid-July, will open up in August, most likely at Ruidoso Downs in New Mexico. A year ago, Royal Always fetched a record $650,000 at auction, the most ever paid for a quarter horse. . . The American Quarter Horse Assn. will host a seminar for current or potential race horse owners July 10 at Los Alamitos. For information, call Staci Honnas-Krug (806) 376-4888, Ext. 426.